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Sunday, August 1, 2010

Upcoming Events

KINGDOM FARM & FOOD DAYS
Saturday and Sunday
August 21-22, 2010

Two days of tours, workshops, food, music and festivities to celebrate Vermont food and agriculture!

This is a TWO-DAY EVENT that starts with self-guided tours of the regions farms, small producers and agricultural businesses and ends with a day long event of tours, music, workshops and a Local Foods Showcase at the High Mowing Organic Seeds Trial and Showcase Gardens on Marsh Road.

Find out more on our Blog!

Pile in the car or hop on a bike, but get yourself, your friends and your family to the Northeast Kingdom for a day long, self-guided tour of the region! The area's farms, gardens, small producers and agricultural businesses have opened their doors to the public, inviting us in to explore, learn and enjoy.

Look for signs that say "Kingdom Farm and Food Days: Open for Tours!" Some locations will offer workshops and/or demonstrations as well. Stay tuned as we continue to add folks to our list!

BICYCLE TOUR with the Craftsbury Outdoor Center! Join us for a scenic, 20+ mile bike ride, with stops at some of the area farms and ending with a Potluck at Pete's Greens. The $35 registration fee will cover your entry fee, sag wagon support, food stops and potluck contribution to Pete's Greens. Appropriate for riders of most levels, with some climbing thrown in for good measure.
Get the details at Kingdom Farm & Food Bike Tour or contact bikes@craftsbury.com for more information or to register for the ride.

As you meander the rural areas of the Northeast Kingdom, don't forget to join Pete Johnson and his crew for 2 guided tours, music and a potluck.

PETE'S GREENS SCHEDULE

10:30AM Farm opens

11AM & 1:30PM Guided Farm Tour

12:30-2:30PM Potluck under the Tent

(please bring a favorite dish to feed yourself plus a few others)

KINGDOM FARM & FOOD OPEN FARM DAY!

The Northeast Kingdom is beautiful, wild and brimming with good food, good farms and good people. Here in Hardwick, along with the surrounding towns, we consider ourselves the gateway to this pristine and remote region. Join us in celebrating the farms and the people who work them.CLICK HERE FOR AN ONLINE MAP

The list of participating farms below will generally be open from 10am to 4pm on Saturday, August 21st for self-guided tours, unless otherwise noted.

Agape Hill Farm, Hardwick, 802-472-3711
A family run llama farm that gives trail walks with their llamas and sells fresh eggs and produce on their farm. Call for information on the trail walks ($20/llama per hour).

Bonnieview Sheep Dairy, South Albany, 802-755-6878
A sheep dairy that makes award winning cheese and raises grass-fed lamb as well as producing a variety of wool products. Join them for an evening milking session around 4pm. Call for more information as well as directions to their farm.

Cedar Brook Farm, East Hardwick 472-6503
A model of a small, sustainable, family operated farm, capable of producing enough food for a family of four plus surplus food to cover the costs of inputs.

Echo Hill Farm, Craftsbury
A fourth generation sugaring business. (They have a rental house available for that weekend)

Eden Ice Cider Company, West Charleston, 802-895-2838
As part of the Vermont Open Winery Weekend, they're going to open their orchard and winery for tours both days, and on Sunday there will be music and food, beer and wine tastings.

Elmore Roots Nursery, Wolcott
While Elmore Roots will not be open on Saturday, on Sunday, Aug 22 they will be open from 9:30am-1pm for tours of their edibles and fruit sampling and from 1pm- 3pm they are having a "Turn Your Lawn Into Eden" workshop. They are only 7 minutes from the rest of Sunday's events at the High Mowing Organic Seed's trials garden.

Join Sandra Gebbie for a guided tour at 11am and 1pm of their beautiful dairy farm and take home a local favorite---maple syrup!
Hazen Monument Farm, East Hardwick 472-5750
A farm and dairy which provides milk to Organic Valley. Tour an organic dairy farm along a tree lined road in East Hardwick.
Hazendale Farm, Greensboro
Although not open to the public for touring, Hazendale Farm has a wonderful, newly built farmstand. A great place to stop and grab a bite!
Heartbeet Lifesharing, Hardwick, 802-472-3285
Located in a idyllic Vermont landscape, tour this therapeutic community for adults on a working farm where working the earth is linked to working with the person. A truly beautiful and special farm in Hardwick.

Self-guided tours of the college's farm and gardens where they raise chickens, pigs, lambs, certified organic vegetables and use animal-power to till the land and log the woods. Located on beautiful Craftsbury Common.

They will be open for tours between 10am and 1pm. Come see how they make their fresh, local, organic soymilk and artisan tofu!

Sunday, August 22

The celebration continues on the beautiful grounds of High Mowing Organic SeedsTrial & Showcase Garden on Marsh Road in Wolcott (see directions below). Situated on land preserved through the Vermont Land Trust -- with over 800 vegetable, herb and flower varieties-- visitors will see side-by-side comparisons of many popular and some unreleased varieties. There will also be self-guided and guided tours (see schedule below) as well as workshops on seed saving and pest and disease identification, live music and an evening bonfire.

Beginning at 3pm, the New England Culinary Institute (NECI) will present a Local Foods Showcase. This is an extraordinary chance for visitors to taste some of the finest Vermont-made food products and culinary delights, all donated by local businesses and prepared by NECI students and chef Jeffrey Ferrell.

All of Sunday’s festivities will be held at the High Mowing Organic Seeds Trials & Showcase Gardens on Marsh Road in Wolcott, VT.
Directions To Trial & Showcase Gardens:

From Morrisville

Drive east on highway 15 through the town Wolcott. Continue on 15 past Fischer Covered Bridge on your right and High Mowing Organic Seeds warehouse on your left. Turn left at your next opportunity, onto Marsh Rd. Follow Marsh road uphill continuing to bear left wherever the road forks. When the road stops going uphill, continue past the Steve Hill farm on your right until you see the VT Land Trust sign on the left. High Mowing Organic Seeds Trials & Showcase Garden is the next driveway on your left. Parking will be on your right.

From Hardwick

Drive west on highway 15. Turn right onto Marsh Rd. Follow Marsh Road uphill continuing to bear left wherever the road forks. When the road stops going uphill, continue past the Steve Hill farm on your right until you see the VT Land Trust sign on the left. High Mowing Organic Seeds Trials & Showcase Garden is the next driveway on your left. Parking will be on your right.

SPECIAL THANKS!!

Foley Distributing for providing compostable plates and utensils for Sunday's Meal. Stay tuned for a list of all of our contributors!!

The Center for an Agricultural Economy's Fan Box

Our Goals

• Broadly reach out to all area residents to embrace and support the Center’s vision, and assure this broad vision is owned by citizens of the greater Hardwick (Vermont) region;

• Convene residents of Hardwick and surrounding communities to develop the cultural and physical infrastructure needed to support the many food and agricultural ventures that are emerging in the region and beyond, and share in the benefits these changes will bring to the economy throughout Vermont;

• Build relationships with the regions’ other non-profit agricultural organizations to help support increasing their efforts in the greater Hardwick area and coordinate so efforts are not duplicated and resources are maximized; and

• Modeling, communicating, and sharing our progress with other communities to help support the rebuilding of healthy food systems throughout Vermont and beyond.